Changes to Fast Lane and Fast Lane Plus

I want to know where a high school kid gets enough money to buy Fast Lane three days in a row, plus two nights in a hotel. What kind of job do you have? When I was in high school I was lucky to afford a one day ticket and I didn't have to stay in a hotel.

What Dave said.

If you're someone who feels its reasonable to buy a season pass, you're pretty much by definition someone who lives close enough to the park to justify having a season pass.

And if you live that close to the park,you're someone who can visit the park on a whim and thus not someone who really needs to use Fastlane.

AlexGillman said:
I have a Platinum Pass, and when I go for 3 days, I buy Fast lane every day.

Yes, you said that. In May. So you could ride Mean Streak without having to walk. Which is, btw, the worst reason ever for buying it.

To me, they ought to put MF, Dragster, and Maverick on plus and let everything else be on the standard. Those rides all are going to have longer waits because of less capacity than Gatekeeper. Although GK is newer and still being marketed, MF is still a strong draw for the general public and I think more likely to entice the upgrade. I rode GK in 5-10 minutes without Fastlane on Saturday night, right before the fireworks.

My guess is they are selling less of them this year, but it isn't because they altered the rides included, but rather the park simply hasn't been that busy. I was there this weekend and Friday was busier than Saturday, but surprisingly not all that crowded. It wasn't dead by any means, but considering the holiday weekend, perfect weather, all the extra perks thrown in to celebrate the fourth, the turnout had to be disappointing to them. I'd guess attendance was probably 35k Friday and at most 30k on Saturday. It's almost as if when they build something up so much, some people stay away because they think it will be too crowded. The busiest days seem to just come out of nowhere pretty organically (not sure that's the right word).

Maybe a lot of extra people are going to Kings Island this year to ride Banshee?

^ i agree with the crowd level this past weekend. With all of the parking lot that they blocked off for the skydivers and fireworks, i expected to see the parking lot full with cars on the grass. I was shocked when we were on WindSeeker friday and saturday to see the lot not completely full. To get on Dragster in 15 minutes after the fireworks and for Maverick not to have a completely full queue on Friday and Saturday surprised me.

I wonder if the publicity of the traffic fiasco last year kept attendance down a little bit this picture perfect weekend (if that is true)... And sadly, the traffic issue happened again this year. I had a friend who left the park at 11pm and did not get home until 3am (they live a half hour away) on Friday.

We went Saturday, but left early on to avoid any traffic issues that may have occurred. I would have loved to see the fireworks and such on either day, but the hassle of that traffic is not worth it. I wonder if the park should have extended hours both nights (instead of just one) to reduce grid-lock leaving the park. Staying open until midnight on both Friday and Saturday nights may help some, no?

I parked in the bay side lot and was off the peninsula in 2 minutes around 11:30 pm Friday. Same thing again on Saturday with even less traffic on the causeway that night. Definitely would not have been the case if I was in the main lot or back in Soak City though. Also, the three outbound lanes on the causeway sort of just shifts the bottleneck to the corner down near employee housing where everyone has to merge. I still haven't decided if that maneuver is worth doing from a traffic flow standpoint.

It was open until midnight both Friday and Saturday - no?

I just have to put my two cents in here again, not everyone that has platinum passes lives so close to the parks that they can go on a whim. I live two hours from Kings Island so no I cannot go whenever I want, I have to plan it out. I spent a lot of money for these passes, knowing with getting married that we would be hitting KI and Cedar Point for our honeymoon, which is why we went with platinum instead of regular passes. I do think there should be some extra perk for the money we are spending, I know the perk is being able to go to other parks but something else would make it seem like a better deal and that they value platinum members. I'm not asking for fast lane for free, but maybe one front of the line pass a day or a percentage off purchasing fast lane. If they can have the spin the wheel for front of the line and make money off it, I'm sure they could with this as well

I feel the Platinum Pass is loaded with benefits. Just for starters, free parking and early entry more than justify the cost. Even if you only use the pass 3 or 4 times a season.

Cedar Point was open until midnight on both Friday and Saturday. My wife and I were riding Raptor right up until park closing on Friday night and the traffic leaving the lot was backed up all the way down the causeway to perimeter road. We strolled around through the park for a about 30 minutes before leaving at the resort gate close to 12:30 and I was surprised to see perimeter road was still backed up all the way to Breakers parking lot.

The crowd on Saturday was much, much smaller. I'm not sure how backed up it was leaving the park though as after being there 4 days with family and our young kids it was time to get some sleep right after the fireworks. Saturday night at least there wasn't a 30 minute wait on Breakers tower elevators!

I apologize darkrider, being that I purchased my pass from Kings Island, it is slightly different, gold and platinum passes get free parking so I really don't see that as an extra perk, I bought it for access to the other parks and for getting into the Halloween events, which is a huge perk for us but it still would be nice to be offered a discount for fast lane. Not everyone will always agree but that's just my two cents.

10% Off food, merchandise, early entry - those are some pretty good perks that add up savings quickly, even if you only visit a few times a year. Not sure what you get at Kings Island for the gold pass but at Cedar Point you do not get any discounts or early entry as far as I know.

You get all that, the only difference is the all parks access, the regular season pass doesn't have all those perks so I'm assuming thats may be what you are talking about? The ONLY difference between gold and platinum is the all parks access.

I'm happy with the value I get out of my family's three platinum passes and as long as it stays similar, I will continue to buy them every year and will even add a fourth in a few years. I'd still buy it even if they didn't offer the 10% off on food. Heck, I'd still offer it if they didn't give early entry or ride nights too. Those are just little bonuses to me. The admission to the parks and the parking are enough to tip the value scale for me. The other perks are nice, but I don't feel like they are owed to me. If they said parking is no longer included, then I'd have some thinking to do because that is a significant extra expense that is required to do a visit. I certainly wouldn't arrive at 8 or 9 pm after work on a Friday and go into the park.

I live four hours away and make about 5 trips a season for 2-3 days each. Sometimes my wife and kid stay with a relative and visit for a week straight. To me it's well worth the money when compared to other types of entertainment.

If it were me, I'd never buy Fastlane in advance - even at a slight discount because you never know what a particular day is going to be like at the park. It might not be busy. It might rain, etc. Just wait and get it there if you think you need it. By taking advantage of riding Millennium Force and/or Maverick during early entry, you might find you don't need it since you've knocked out your biggest waits right there.

JUnderhill said:
10% Off food, merchandise, early entry - those are some pretty good perks that add up savings quickly, even if you only visit a few times a year. Not sure what you get at Kings Island for the gold pass but at Cedar Point you do not get any discounts or early entry as far as I know.

Agree. I went yesterday and got 10% off Coke Freestyle, Funnel Cake at Toot Sweets and 10% a T-Shirt at the gift shop by the main gate. I also used a BOGO for the go-karts. I probably saved around $8 yesterday with Platinum perks.

I just noticed this weekend Magnum isn't on any fast lane and thought it was weird. Usually there isn't much of a line but could be on a busy day.

Not sure why you'd consider the platinum pass not worth it. Even at the small number of visits I do, it's worth it. I've only had one quick visit to Worlds of Fun so far this year but will be visiting CP for 2-3 days in September and going out to Knotts at the end of August. That alone is enough value for the $180 or whatever I paid for this season.

I don't feel like I need to get discounted fastlane or whatever, and really wouldn't want people to get discounted fastlane from it. More fastlane people = longer waits if I don't buy it. At least if they keep the price up it prices some people out of it, which is good.

There were still people using it at Magnum yesterday - they were only saving themselves 1-3 minutes by doing so, but they still had the position staffed and the sign there and stuff. Maybe they eliminated Magnum as a Fastlane ride, but need to keep it for the sake of being honest to the people who bought it previously when it WAS listed?

Magnum is still listed as a FL ride on CP's website.

I never said I didn't feel the platinum passes weren't worth the money, I would have never purchased them if I felt that. My point is that the only difference between gold and platinum is the all parks access. With having bought these passes, we are pretty tapped out on spending at the park, so the 10% off on food or whatever doesn't do much for me, especially since we also bought the season dining package. I just would like to seem a few more perks between gold and platinum than just all park access.